Democrats accuse DHS of ‘kneecapping’ programs that help speed registered travelers through security lines
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is suspending the TSA PreCheck and Global Entry airport security programs as a partial government shutdown continues.
The programs are designed to help speed registered travelers through security lines. Suspending them could cause headaches for passengers.
Continue reading...With construction overwhelmingly male, Refuge says tradeswomen help survivors of abuse feel safer
One of the main challenges in maintaining the 64 homes for domestic abuse survivors run by Refuge is the reliance on a male-dominated workforce of electricians, plumbers and decorators.
“The presence of men can be distressing and could trigger past traumas for our survivors,” said Lisa Cantwell-Hope, the head of property services at the charity. “Male contractors need an escort to make our survivors feel more comfortable, and we always put a notice out to all our residents saying there will be a male presence in the building today. So it can be challenging and takes up more time.”
Continue reading...Birthrates have fallen since Russia’s invasion but some have held on to hope and are bringing up children despite risks
Four years ago Russian troops were a few kilometres away from Leleka maternity hospital, beyond a pine forest and a lake. Vladimir Putin’s plan to conquer Ukraine – wrapping it into a new Russian empire – began just down the road. They were meant to seize Kyiv and topple Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s pro-western government.
To the Kremlin’s surprise, Ukraine fought back. A Russian armoured column was destroyed in nearby Bucha. For five weeks a battle raged. Maternity staff treated wounded Ukrainian soldiers. Then, in March 2022, Russian troops pulled out of the Kyiv region. They left behind the bodies of hundreds of civilians they had killed, including fleeing families gunned down in their cars.
Continue reading...Nigel Farage’s man in Gorton and Denton has a huge public platform, and a taste for culture war. What happens when he concerns himself with bin collections?
On a bracingly cold February night in Levenshulme, a black Volkswagen people-carrier draws up outside a little parish church, around which a small crowd has begun to gather. From behind the car’s darkened windows steps the Reform candidate for the Gorton and Denton byelection, dressed in the trademark gilet that makes him look less like a politician and more like a man who has come straight from a grouse shoot. As he enters the church where the electoral hustings will take place, a leaflet is thrust into his hand, which as he will later discover with a horrified grimace, is a flyer for the local branch of the Communist League, bearing policies such as “amnesty for all immigrants” and “defend Cuba’s socialist revolution”.
But then, when you are trying to attract the attention of someone as elusive as Prof Matt Goodwin, you have to seize your opportunities whenever they arise. Over recent weeks the former academic and rightwing firebrand has been a curiously intangible presence in the constituency whose representation he is seeking: perpetually detectable but not remotely approachable, always visible without ever really being seen.
Continue reading...This is one of those places where I say: use it or lose it.
Some hot dining spots seem to expand almost the moment they open, but east London’s Vietnamese stalwart Sông Quê has waited almost 25 years to spawn a little sister, Sông Quê Phở Bar. The new offshoot sits on Commercial Street, a mile or so down the road, and serves a tiny menu focusing on phở, as well as a smattering of the original cafe’s small plates in the form of summer rolls, green papaya salad, grilled lamb chops and savoury banh khot cupcakes.
Quite why Sông Quê, with its regular weekend queues and well-known name, took so long to branch out, however, is unknown. Still, why rush things? After all, the road to restaurant ruin is paved with premature brand roll-outs, and even if managers think they’re superhuman, they cannot be in two – or three or four – sites all at the same time. Plus, the big question with an institution such as the OG Sông Quê is: can you really recreate the magic elsewhere?
Continue reading...Overdependence on chatbots is a growing problem, and though your boyfriend’s ADHD may be a factor, he needs to find the root of his anxiety
My boyfriend of eight years, who is 44, has ADHD and runs his own business. He’s always struggled with admin and mundane tasks, but AI has revolutionised how he works. Now I’m worried he can’t seem to do anything without AI. He is a heavy ChatGPT user and uses it even when there’s a better non-AI alternative (eg he’ll ask it for train times rather than using Trainline, even though it’s less accurate). He just got his ChatGPT Wrapped and he’s in the top 0.3% of users worldwide.
I worry about his ability to think independently, as well as the environmental impact. I know it’s a useful tool for him at work, but he uses it for everything in life.
Continue reading...The politician was 18 when she and her mum were hauled off to a police station for the killing of the man she’d considered an uncle. What happened next would shape her future. She talks Labour’s woes, making mistakes, and why it’s finally time to share her own traumatic story
• Read an extract from Naz Shah’s memoir here
Naz Shah found it thrilling when she was arrested on suspicion of murder. “I’ll be honest with you, I had fun. It was the most excitement I’d ever had in my flipping life. I’d never been to a police station before. I was 18 and wet behind the ears. I was this really sheltered kid who’d been arrested. And I was like, they’ve got it wrong, so in my head it was all going to be over soon,” the MP for Bradford West says. “They took my clothes and gave me this white suit to wear, and I was saying, ‘Ooh, I look foxy in this, don’t I? Can you imagine taking me on a date in this?’ I was having a right laugh with the police officers. Honestly, I was so naive.”
Shah’s beloved “Uncle” Azam had died unexpectedly in April 1992. An autopsy revealed that he had been poisoned with arsenic. Shah and her mother, Zoora, who spoke little English, had cooked the previous night’s supper. They were arrested and taken to different police stations. Shah was released. Zoora admitted that she had made the dessert that contained the arsenic. After a month-long trial, she was convicted of Azam’s murder in December 1993 and sentenced to 20 years in jail.
Continue reading...Major chains agree to halve default sweetness, but street vendors and cafes remain outside sugar tax rules
A crowd of customers, holding phones aloft, watch intently as Auntie Nid mixes up her bestseller: an iced Thai tea.
Condensed milk is poured into a glass, followed by three heaped tablespoons of sugar, and then freshly strained tea. The end product – a deep orange, creamy treat – is poured into a plastic bag filled with ice.
Continue reading...Koning Charles (toen nog prins) werd al in 2019 gewaarschuwd dat de naam van de koninklijke familie werd ‘misbruikt’ door de zakelijke relaties van Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, schrijft The Mail on Sunday.
In een e-mail vertelde een klokkenluider het paleis dat de voormalige hertog geheime financiële banden had met de controversiële miljonair en financier David Rowland, die zijn koninklijke connecties misbruikte.
Uit mails die de krant in handen zegt te hebben, blijkt ook dat Andrew Rowland in feite toestond om deel te nemen aan zijn officiële taken.
De cache met e-mails dreigt Charles verder in de crisis te betrekken, die is ontstaan door Andrews banden met Jeffrey Epstein en beschuldigingen dat hij mogelijk vertrouwelijke en gevoelige documenten heeft doorgegeven aan de veroordeelde pedofiel.
Andrew vertelde Epstein ooit dat Rowland zijn ‘vertrouwde geldman’ was. De bankier en zijn zoon Jonathan vergezelden Andrew op reizen die hij tussen 2001 en 2011 maakte in zijn officiële hoedanigheid als handelsgezant
Rowland gaf Andrews ex-vrouw Sarah Ferguson ooit 40.000 pond om haar te helpen haar schulden af te lossen en betaalde in 2017 een lening van 1,5 miljoen pond voor Andrew af.
In augustus 2019 stuurde een klokkenluider die gedetailleerde kennis had van Andrews zakelijke transacties met Rowland een e-mail naar Charles, toen nog prins van Wales, via de koninklijke advocaten Farrer & Co, waarin hij waarschuwde voor ‘David Rowlands misbruik van de koninklijke familie’.
Een 52-jarige Nederlander is tijdens het skiën in Oostenrijk zwaargewond geraakt. Hij kwam buiten de piste met zijn hoofd in de sneeuw terecht en moest worden uitgegraven. De man is gereanimeerd en naar het ziekenhuis in Innsbruck gebracht, meldt de politie.
Het ongeval gebeurde zaterdagmiddag in het skigebied bij Zell am Ziller. De man ging met zijn vrouw en dochter van de berg af. Het slachtoffer skiede zonder hen buiten de piste verder, terwijl zij wel op de geprepareerde helling bleven.
Omdat de man daarna niet op de afgesproken plek verscheen en ook zijn telefoon niet opnam, sloeg zijn vrouw alarm. Liftbedienden vonden de man niet veel later ondersteboven in de sneeuw. Hij werd gereanimeerd en daarna met een ambulance naar het ziekenhuis gebracht. Bij de reddingsactie werd ook de hulp van een traumahelikopter ingeschakeld.
Vrijdag raakte in Oostenrijk ook een Nederlander zwaargewond. Dat was bij St. Anton am Arlberg. De 23-jarige man werd met vier anderen getroffen door een lawine. Drie mensen overleefden het niet. Eerder deze week overleed een 71-jarige Nederlander door een lawine. Samen met zijn zoon en nog een Nederlander kwam hij bij Fiss in een lawine terecht. De zoon kon zichzelf en de andere man bevrijden. Zijn vader werd later gevonden door een reddingshond.
De Amerikaanse president Donald Trump heeft de Europese Unie gewaarschuwd dat Europese landen mogelijk worden uitgesloten van de Amerikaanse wapenmarkt als Brussel doorzet met plannen om eigen wapenindustrie zwaarder te bevoordelen.
Dat zou op enige termijn heel goed nieuws zijn. Vrijwillig is Europa niet in staat gebleken onafhankelijk te worden van de VS. Maar het regime Trump toont aan dat die afhanelijkheid slecht is voor de Europese veiligheid.
Volgens een document dat Washington deze maand bij de Europese Commissie indiende, verzet de regering-Trump zich “krachtig” tegen elke verscherking van EU-regels die de toegang van Amerikaanse defensiebedrijven tot Europese aanbestedingen zou beperken. De waarschuwing is gericht op de geplande herziening van de Europese aanbestedingsrichtlijn uit 2009, waarin strengere “koop Europees”-bepalingen worden overwogen om de Europese defensie-industrie te versterken.
Het Pentagon dreigt er in een verklaring mee alle uitzonderingen op de Amerikaanse Buy American-wetgeving te herzien als EU-lidstaten in hun nationale regels Europese leveranciers gaan voortrekken. Dat zou het voor grote Europese wapenproducenten, zoals het Italiaanse Leonardo en het Zweedse Saab, aanzienlijk moeilijker of zelfs onmogelijk maken om nog aan de VS te leveren.
De commissie in Brussel probeert al enkele jaren het aandeel Europees materieel in de arsenalen van lidstaten te vergroten, na decennia van sterke afhankelijkheid van Amerikaanse systemen als F‑35’s, HIMARS-raketsystemen en Patriot-luchtafweer. Bijna twee derde van alle door de EU geïmporteerde wapens komt momenteel uit de Verenigde Staten, waardoor een scherpe Amerikaanse tegenreactie direct grote economische en strategische gevolgen zou hebben.
by_no_means_a_photographer has added a photo to the pool:
It has been a tough summer in the vineyards of Southern Flinders Ranges. Especially around the Baroota region. January had a mean temp of over 36°C with 9 days over 40° (getting to up 47° and 48°).
From 30th November 2025 to 21st February 2026, this region had a total rainfall of 1mm (which fell on two days in December where 0.6mm and 0.4mm fell). Needless to say it has been a HOT and DRY summer on the western slopes of the Southern Flinders. Despite access to some reservoir water, the surviving vineyards in the district were showing the signs of stress when I shot this a couple of weeks ago. As I upload on 22nd Feb, we are getting our first proper rain in over 80 days.
jasohill has added a photo to the pool:
One candidate said, "In a criminal trial, I would feel morally obligated to convict, however, in a civil trial I could set those views aside," adding, "I believe it would be to the benefit of the human race for Mr. Musk to be sent to prison." [...]
"I don't believe the loss of several hundreds of millions of dollars in civil trial will be even a drop in the bucket to his wealth," he reportedly said. "So it doesn't really matter."
He did not make it onto the jury, and neither did a woman who said Musk has "no moral compass" and "used his wealth to buy votes." The judge also dismissed a candidate who said they disagree with the "existence of billionaires" and another who noted their dislike for Musk's firing of Twitter content moderators.
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